Sling for automatic rifle to prevent injury by accidental discharge

ABSTRACT

A sling for an automatic rifle enables the rifle to be mounted on a first individual in action carry in an orientation which eliminates or significantly minimizes the likelihood that a second individual walking along side the first individual will be injured if the rifle accidentally discharges.

This invention relates to hand held weapons and slings for such weapons.

More particularly, the invention relates to a weapon—sling system toprevent injury by accidental discharge of the weapon.

In a further respect, the invention relates to a weapon—sling system tominimize the likelihood of injury by accidental discharge of anautomatic rifle or shotgun.

The action carry of a rifle and sling is defined as the position of arifle and sling on an individual in which the rifle extends muzzle-downacross the front of an individual's body, in which the sling extendsfrom the stock of the rifle up over the shoulder of the individual,across the back of the individual, around the opposite (from theshoulder over which the sling extends) side of the individual and backto a portion of the rifle that extends downwardly from the stock.

FIG. 1 illustrates the action carry of a prior art automatic rifle andsling, as shown in US Patent Application Pub. No. US2004/0188476,published Sep. 30, 2004. As is illustrated in FIG. 1, it is commonpractice to attach one end of a sling near the muzzle end of the rifle.This procedure has evidently been utilized for many years to attach asling to a rifle. In the system illustrated in FIG. 1, the weight of thestock and middle portion of the rifle act to rotate the rifle in thedirection indicated by arrow A. As a consequence, the rifle assumes abalanced position like that illustrated in which the muzzle of the gunis pointing at an angle B of about thirty degrees from the vertical. Abalanced position or orientation of the rifle is achieved when therifle, in conjunction with its sling, is not attempting to move on theindividual's body. When the rifle is in a balanced orientation, anyrotational forces acting in the direction of arrow A (when theindividual is standing upright and still) are generally offset by forcesacting in the direction of arrow C, and the rifle stays in thestabilized canted orientation it has assumed in the action carry.

A significant disadvantage of the sling—rifle system of FIG. 1 is thatif the rifle accidentally discharges, it can inflict a serious wound ona second individual who is walking alongside the individual that has therifle in the action carry. This problem has existed for many years inconnection with the M-16/AR15 automatic rifle, and has been the cause ofserious injuries, particularly during the Vietnam war and otherconflicts. Lengthening the sling does not solve this problem. The cantof the rifle and propensity for injury persist.

Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improvedweapon—sling system that would reduce the likelihood of injury by anaccidental discharge of the weapon.

Therefore, it is a principal object of the instant invention to providean improved sling—weapon system and method.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved sling systemfor an automatic rifle, particularly an M16/AR15 rifle, that reduces therisk of injury by accidental discharge when the rifle is in action carryon an individual.

These and other, further and more specific objects and advantages of theinvention will be apparent to those of skill in the art from thefollowing detailed description thereof, taken in conjunction with thedrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view illustrating the action carry for aprior art automatic rifle—sling system;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an automatic rifle—slingsystem constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the mode of operation of therifle—sling system of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view illustrating the action carry for therifle—sling system of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a front view illustrating the mode of operation of therifle—sling system of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a side view illustrating the mode of operation of therifle—sling system of the invention; and,

FIG. 7 is a side view illustrating an attachment plate that can beutilized in conjunction with a shotgun.

Briefly, in accordance with the invention, I provide an improved methodfor a first individual to action carry an automatic rifle in anorientation that significantly reduces the likelihood the a secondindividual walking next to the first individual will be shot in theevent the automatic rifle accidentally discharges while in action carry.The automatic rifle has a muzzle end, a stock end opposite the muzzleend, and a center of gravity intermediate the stock end and the muzzleend. The method comprises the steps of providing a sling having a firstend and a second end and shaped and dimensioned to extend in actioncarry from the stock of the automatic rifle over a shoulder of the firstindividual, across the back of the individual, and around the sideopposite the shoulder to the automatic rifle; of attaching the first endof the sling to the stock end of the rifle; of determining the nearcenter-of-gravity location at which the second end of said sling can beattached to the rifle so that in action carry the rifle assumes avertically oriented balanced orientation at an angle from the verticalof less than twenty-five degrees; of attaching the second end of thesling to said near-center-fo-gravity location; and, placing the rifleand the sling on the first individual in action carry.

Turning now the drawings, which depict the presently preferredembodiments of the invention for the purpose of illustration thereof,and not by way of limitation of the invention, and in which likecharacters refer to corresponding elements throughout the several views,FIG. 2 illustrates an automatic rifle—sling system constructed inaccordance with the invention and including an M16/AR15 10 (or otherdesired hand-held weapon) having a muzzle end 12, a stock end 11, and acenter of gravity G. The sling 20 includes strap 21 attached at end 22to clip 23 and at end 24 to stock end 11 by strap 25 circumscribing end11 and connected to end 24. Clip 23 is removably received by receiver26. Strap 27 interconnects eyelet 31 of receiver 26 and eyelet 30 ofconnector 28. Eyelet 29 of connector 28 slides along strap 32 in thedirections indicated by arrows F and H. Connector 28A of FIG. 3 can besubstituted for connector 28. End 33 of strap 32 is fixedly attached tostrap 25. End 34 of strap 32 extends through connector 35. End 37 ofstrap 36 also extends through and is affixed to connector 35. End 38 ofstrap 36 is stitched or otherwise affixed to strap 39. Strap 39 seats inand circumscribes the “Delta Ring” of the M16/AR15 identified byreference character 10. The Delta Ring comprises a inset circumferentialgroove. Receiver 41 slides along strap 38 in the directions indicated byarrows D and E. The greatest distance that receiver 41 can move alongstrap 36 is, however, limited, to less than about two and one-halfinches, preferably to less than about two inches, and most preferably toless than about one inch. Strap 36 functions to maintain receiver 41adjacent rifle 10 and adjacent strap 39. This is important because itstabilizes receiver 41 and facilitate reassembly of clip 40 withreceiver 41.

Receiver 41 detachably receives clip 40. Clip 40 is secured to strap 27by strap 43.

End 24 can be affixed to stock end 11 by any desired means. End 38 canbe affixed to weapon 10 by any desired means.

Attaching end 38 of strap 36 to rifle 10 at the Delta Ring 44 (FIG. 3)is important. Prior art sling systems connect to a rifle at pointscloser to the muzzle end 12 and farther away from the center of gravityG of rifle 10. This causes rifle 10 to cant significantly in actioncarry, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1. In the practice of theinvention, it is important that end 38 be secured to rifle 10 at aposition much closer to the center of gravity G, typically with sixinches, preferably with five inches, and most preferably within fourinches of the center of gravity. When end 38 is attached in this mannerand the weapon is placed in action carry in the manner illustrated inFIG. 4 with strap 21 extending over the shoulder and around the oppositeside of the individual, the longitudinal axis of the rifle is at anangle R from the vertical of less than twenty-five degrees, preferablyof less than twenty degrees, and most preferably less than fifteendegrees. Provided, however, when rifle 10 is in action carry, it ispreferred that the angle R in FIG. 4 functions both to minimize thelikelihood that an accidental discharge can strike an individual walkingor standing to the side of individual 50 and to minimize the likelihoodthat an accidental discharge will strike individual 50 in the foot. Tothis end, the angle R is preferably adjusted such that an accidentaldischarge in action carry normally will pass to either side of the foot60 of the individual, but close enough to individual 50 to minimize thelikelihood that the discharge will strike a person standing or walkingnear individual 50. It is possible that the center of gravity of aweapon can be altered by mounting auxiliary equipment on the weapon, byconstructing the weapon with materials of differing density, or byotherwise altering the construction or configuration of the weapon. Insuch cases, the spirit and purpose of the invention are still achievedby mounting strap 36 on the weapon such that in action carry the weaponis at an angle from the vertical of less than twenty-five degrees,preferably of less than twenty degrees, and most preferably of less thanfifteen degrees. As used herein, less than twenty-five degrees means atleast one-tenth of a degree (i.e., 24.9 degrees) less than twenty-fivedegrees, less than twenty degrees means at least one-tenth of a degree(i.e., 19.9 degrees) less than twenty degrees, etc.

FIG. 6 illustrates the normal firing position of rifle 10 after a righthanded individual grasps rifle 10 when rifle 10 is in the action carry,and then lifts the rifle 10 to the firing position of FIG. 6. In theevent individual 50 wishes to transition rifle 10 to his other shoulderfor firing, the individual removes clip 40 from receiver 41 in themanner illustrated in FIG. 3. This permits connector 28 (or 28A) toslide along strap 32 in the direction of arrow F, which allows readymovement of rifle 10 to the transition position illustrated in FIG. 5.

In the event individual 50 wishes to completely remove sling from hisperson, individual simply grasps and squeeze clip 23 to remove it fromreceiver 26. Once clip 23 is removed from receiver, strap 21 can, as canbe readily seen in FIG. 2, be permitted to fall free so individual canset down rifle 10 or otherwise position rifle 10 without movement of thestrap around the body interfering with positioning of rifle 10.

FIG. 7 illustrates a C-shaped plate 60 that can, instead of strap 39, beengaged by an end 38A of strap 37. The opening 61 in plate 60 can beshaped to extend around the Delta Ring 44 of an M16/AR15, but, in theevent the sling of FIG. 2 is utilized on a shotgun, is presentlyconfigured to fit around a barrel of a shotgun at a location whichpermits the longitudinal axis of the shotgun—when the shotgun is mountedon an individual in action carry in the general manner illustrated inFIG. 4 with strap 21 extending over the shoulder and around the oppositeside of the individual—to be at an angle from the vertical of less thantwenty-five degrees, preferably of less than twenty degrees, and mostpreferably of less than fifteen degrees. When the sling of FIG. 2 isutilized on a shotgun, strap 25 is configured to be mounted on the stockend of the shotgun, or, one end 24 of sling 20 is otherwise adapted tobe secured to the stock end of the shotgun. Similarly, strap 25 need notbe utilized to secure sling 20 to the stock end of a rifle. End 24 ofsling 20 can, instead of or in combination with strap 25, include a clipor any other desired means to secure one end of sling 20 to the stock ofa rifle or other weapon.

In use, a sling 20 is provided with a pair of ends 24, 38. One of theends 24 is connected to the stock end 11 of an automatic rifle 10 orother hand-held weapon. The other of the ends 24, 38 is connected to anautomatic rifle 10 at a “near center-of-gravity” point intermediate themuzzle end and center of gravity G of the rifle. The nearcenter-of-gravity point at which end 38 is attached in order to achievethe desired angle R in action carry is selected such that angle R isless than 25 degrees, preferably less than 20 degrees, and mostpreferably less than 15 degrees, and, such that angle R preferablyminimizes the risk that an individual 50 will be struck in the foot byan accidental discharge. The “near center-of-gravity” point likely canbe determined with mathematical algorithms utilizing the center ofgravity of rifle 10, weight distribution data for rifle 10, and/or otherdata. However, simple trial-and-error usually suffices and takes alimited amount of time. Trial-and-error is accomplished by attaching oneend of a sling 20 to rifle 10 at end 11 and the other end of sling 20 atvarious points between end 12 and center of gravity G, and by, for eachattachment point between end 12 and the center of gravity G, noting theangle R achieved when the rifle or other weapon is mounted on anindividual in the action carry orientation. Attempting to mount sling 20on a rifle or other weapon in action carry such that angle R is zeronormally is, as would be appreciated by those of skill in the art,impractical. While angle R can, as noted vary, angle R typically isgreater than ten degrees.

After end 38 and end 24 are attached, the rifle 10 and sling 20 are wornby an individual in action carry as illustrated in FIG. 4.

Quick release clip—receiver 23, 26 is large to facilitate operationthereof by a solider or other individual wearing gloves. Clip—receiver23,26 has a width of at least three-quarters of an inch, preferably atleast one inch, and most preferably at least one and one-half inches.Clip—receiver 40, 42 has a width of at least one-half inch, preferablyat least three-quarter inch, and most preferably at least one inch.

1. A method for a first individual to action carry an automatic rifle inan orientation that significantly reduces the likelihood the a secondindividual walking next to the first individual will be shot in theevent the automatic rifle accidentally discharges while in action carry,the automatic rifle having a muzzle end, a stock end opposite the muzzleend, and a center of gravity intermediate said stock end and said muzzleend, the method comprising the steps of (a) providing a sling having afirst end and a second end and shaped and dimensioned to extend in theaction position from the stock of the automatic rifle over a shoulder ofthe first individual, across the back of the individual, and around theside opposite the shoulder to the automatic rifle; (b) attaching saidfirst end of said sling to the stock end of the rifle; (c) determiningthe near center-of-gravity location at which said second end of saidsling can be attached to the rifle so that in action carry the rifleassumes a vertically oriented balanced orientation at an angle from thevertical of less than twenty degrees; (d) attaching said second end ofsaid sling to said near-center-fo-gravity location; and, (e) placing therifle and said sling on the individual in action carry.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 including the additional step of attaching an optical sight tothe rifle intermediate the muzzle end and said attachment location. 3.The method of claim 1 including the additional step of attaching atarget designator to the rifle intermediate the muzzle end and saidattachment location.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein a shotgun isutilized in place of the automatic rifle.
 5. A method for a firstindividual to action carry a shotgun in an orientation thatsignificantly reduces the likelihood the a second individual walkingnext to the first individual will be shot in the event the shotgunaccidentally discharges while in action carry, the shotgun having amuzzle end, a stock end opposite the muzzle end, and a center of gravityintermediate said stock end and said muzzle end, the method comprisingthe steps of (a) providing a sling having a first end and a second endand shaped and dimensioned to extend in the action position from thestock of the shotgun over a shoulder of the first individual, across theback of the individual, and around the side opposite the shoulder to theshotgun; (b) attaching said first end of said sling to the stock end ofthe shotgun; (c) determining the near center-of-gravity location atwhich said second end of said sling can be attached to the shotgun sothat in action carry the shotgun assumes a vertically oriented balancedorientation at an angle from the vertical of less than twenty degrees;(d) attaching said second end of said sling to saidnear-center-of-gravity location; and, (e) placing the shotgun and saidsling on the individual in action carry.